


Plot Twist

by spencerreld (plantmajor)



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Garcia forgets meeting her baby genius, i wrote this at 3 am with no sleep oops, no regrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 05:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10892955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantmajor/pseuds/spencerreld
Summary: in which two meet ahead of time. (old)





	Plot Twist

**Author's Note:**

> this is old and has mistakes, so be warned.

Spencer Reid was almost fifteen the first time he walked onto his next home for the next four to six years, give or take. It was his first time so far away from home, and he felt guilty; guilty about feeling so relieved. He had left his mom at his Aunt Ethel’s in Henderson, which wasn’t that far away from Las Vegas anyways (the distance was approximately 15.9 miles and 24 kilometers, ending in only twenty minutes by car and one hour and five minutes by train), and then taken the bus all the way to California.

He had a plan for this year: isolate himself, study, get his Mathematics degree, and then get one in Chemistry, maybe even a BA in English? He wasn’t sure about that, and he wasn’t sure if he could even make it there. Spencer just wanted to finish this up so he could get back to his mom.

Well, he wasn’t even sure about that. Sure, he loved his mom, and she was the only person on Earth he trusted (yes, he didn’t even trust himself as much), but it felt nice to get out there, with no burden holding him back. He could feel free, and then he could help her even more.

Then a second later a kid would yell something degrading at him and he would remember schizophrenia is genetic and that he was a 14 year old freak in college, with a mother that sometimes thought he was an agent trying to steal her organs. Joy.

But there he was, armed with only his satchel, a small suitcase, and nothing else, ready to walk into college and become part of the class of 2000. Another deep breath, reminding himself that if he got through this, he could get a good job and help pay for help. 

For his mom. Help for his mom. Just his mom. 

With that, he slipped in the open doors, ignoring the strange looks all the while keeping his back straight and head held high. Spencer didn’t want anyone to think he was uncomfortable yet. He needed to show he didn’t care what anyone thought, and that he was confident being himself, sweater vests and all. But everyone in that room (him included) could immediately tell that it was all just a big act.

He went directly to where a large group of newly arrived students had piled up, all bunching up together under a huge pink and glittery banner that had Freshman Here! Dorm Assignments! in fancy calligraphy. Several people left the second he arrived, either done with their business or not wanting to be around him. Either way, the area cleared up enough for him to make his way to the front.

“Hey! You lost, mister?” A cheerful voice greeted, and Spencer looked up, pushing up his glasses. A perky girl, about 19, stood behind the plastic table that held stacks and stacks of paper. She had blonde curly hair let down to rest on her shoulders, parts of it, dyed pink. Her large glasses were a bright blue with decals on the top, and her bright and ravishing smile topped it all off. “I’m sure we can find your brother or sister around here somewhere.”

Spencer sighed. Yet another person thinking that he was only there to say his goodbyes to an older sibling. Had these people never seen a fourteen year old genius? Probably not. “Uh, no, actually,” He began, trying to sound as polite as he could. A few people glanced his way weirdly, but he ignored them. “I.. I go here.”

The girl’s freshly plucked eyebrows shot up. “Oooh. That’s awesome.” She replied after a moment, her smile coming back onto her face. “Are you like a genius or something?” Wow, Spencer expected a much more disgusted and/or done reaction.

“Yeah? I guess you could say that, I mean, I can read 20,000 words per minute and have an IQ of 187, which arguably could be more than most famous scientists. But the word genius is a flexible term, usually referring to people w—”

“Woah, woah!” The girl stopped him, her eyes widened with pleasure (no, that couldn’t be right; who would be happy with that?) and her grin still on her face. “Calm down there, buddy.” She pushed a clipboard toward him. “Okay, find your name and circle it.” She looked expectantly at Spencer, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. It took the girl a sod, but when she figured it out, she shrieked, the surprise almost knocking Reid over. She took a pen from her.. breast area and putting it on top of the clipboard. “There! Now circle your name!”

“Uhm..” Spencer started, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he gingerly picked up the pink and glittery pen. Was this sanitary? The woman with pens in her bra probably noticed his discomfort and chuckled. She reached over and stole a pen from someone next to her and replaced her pink one with a plain old blue one. “There,” She said, laughing a little again. “But I’m a little offended that you don’t like my boob pen.” She pouted. 

“Oh, uh, uhm— I’m s-sorry, I didn’t—”

 

“I’m kidding!” The girl laughed, leaning over the table and ruffling the boy’s hair. “It’s just a joke. Now, your room is...” She picked up the clipboard and looked through the pages to find it, but Spencer cleared his throat. He gripped the handle of his suitcase tighter, and said, “Uh, well, I already read it on the paper so.. I’ll go..”

“Aw, well, good luck! I enjoyed the little time I had with you!” Spencer nodded, murmuring his thank yous before he began to walk off, but the girl leaned over the table and grabbed his arm. She had a surprisingly hard grip. “By the way,” She smiled. “I’m Penelope Garcia, sophomore here in university and the best tech major on this whole campus. Anyone has beef with you, I’ll send their nudes out to everyone.” With that, Penelope Garcia let go, and Spencer nodded again, bending his aching arm so he could get his blood circulating again (she's very strong).

“Uh. Thanks.” He said again, and this time walked away faster. He could feel their gazes piercing his back as he walked off. College couldn’t be so hard. He didn’t need her help with anything, at least not yet. Most of him thought knew that he could take care of himself. But a small part of him was happy to be at least acquainted with someone that wasn’t a teacher.

Spencer would never see her around campus anymore, though, and after the third student had pushed him against the wall he’d asked thirteen teachers if she’d been around recently; apparently she had dropped out. He would’ve followed in her footsteps after two more split lips, but he had to prove to those future gas-station attendants that he would be successful.

about 16 years later

“How you even get 3 PHDs, man?” Morgan said, sitting on his wheelie chair with his legs on his desk, playing with one of Garcia’s fluffy pens that he’d stolen from her oracle cove. “What college even lets you do that?”

“Oh.” Reid started, his attention moving from his files to Morgan’s conversation attempt. “Well, I got full scholarships to a lot of colleges. Yale, MIT, NYU, Caltech, Harvard—”

“Ooh! CalTech!” A new voice shouted, and Garcia came into view, walking all the way over to Morgan’s desk and snatching the pen from her chocolate hunk’s hands. “How dare you steal my pen. That is a new low even for you, my man. How dare you!” She turned back to Reid, a small smile gracing her lips once again. “Caltech’s awesome, you should’ve gone!”

Spencer frowned, his cheeks flushing. “Uh, Garcia.. I did. I went there. You should know this.”

Garcia’s mouth formed into a small o. “Oh my god!” She shouted again, grabbing the attention of everyone in the bullpen and slamming her hands on her cheeks. “I totally forgot! And we would’ve gone together at the same time! That’s awesome!” She slapped Morgan on his back (“Ow!”) and her eyes widened. “Imagine if we had met.”

Reid’s head cocked to the left, his eyebrows raising. “Uh? We did, didn’t we? Don’t you remember?” Garcia choked on her own spit. “What?” She said between coughs, grabbing onto Morgan’s shoulder for bodily support. “We did? What? When was this?”

“Look’s my lovely tech goddess doesn’t know everything.” Morgan laughed, and Garcia blew a raspberry in his face (“This is why I’m your tech goddess and not your sex goddess anymore.”). “But seriously, why didn’t you even tell anyone kid?”

“August 29th, 1991.” Spencer started, kind of confused about their reactions, and as to how Garcia could forget. “4:53 PM, and I walked into the main entrance of the CalTech dorms, and you were one of the people assigning dorms, and then you gushed over me and gave me a pen from your bra, told me your name, and I never saw you again.”

“Oh my god!” Garcia gasped, plopping herself on Morgan’s lap. She grabbed Reid’s arm, pulling the boy’s rolls chair with him in it towards them. “You’re pencil boy! I almost forgot about you!”

“Pencil boy?”

“My roommate gave you the name after she saw you in one of her classes because you were skinnier than a pencil.” She poked his cheek. “Not like that’s any different now, though.” 

Morgan chuckled. “Yeah man, you gotta eat more.”

Reid rolled his eyes teasingly, blowing his hair out of his face. He leaned back in his chair as Garcia let go of his arm, leaving behind red marks. “You have a surprisingly strong grip.”

“Are you saying that I’m not strong because I’m a girl? Didn’t peg you for a sexist, Spencer Reid.”

“What? No, I just me–”

And the conversation went on as always.


End file.
